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This study examines the impact of various degrees of fear appeals of climate change on an individual’s intention to engage in pro-environmental behavior, and how possible factors that influence an individual’s intention to engage in proenvironmental behavior vary in different degrees of fear appeals of climate change.
The results indicate that the participants who read the low-fear appeal text exhibit more evoked fearful emotion and have more intentions to engage in proenvironmental behavior than do those who read the high-fear appeal text. In addition, an individual’s moral obligations play a crucial role in determining his or her intention to engage in pro-environmental behavior under both low-fear and high-fear appeal conditions. However, under high-fear appeal conditions, an individual’s perception of collective efficacy plays a crucial role in determining his or her intention of engaging in pro-environmental behavior. The results of this study contribute to enhancing the intercultural validation of research on fear appeals applied to people’s proenvironmental behavior in a collective Chinese cultural social context in response to global warming. In addition, the findings provide implications for applying fear appeals to encourage pro-environmental behavior.
